


Sky of Gold

by shadow_of_egypt (Shachaai)



Series: Nihon [8]
Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-24
Updated: 2010-07-24
Packaged: 2017-10-10 18:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/103082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shachaai/pseuds/shadow_of_egypt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quiet autumn evening at Shirasagi, enjoying the last of the peace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sky of Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Set during the autumn of their second year in Nihon.

“What the hell is that?”

“That, Kurogane-san,” said Souma, coming up behind Kurogane where he was standing watching three of the palace servants struggle to haul an elaborate golden _thing _into Shirasagi’s main entrance hall from a carriage outside, their feet crunching on a few of the autumn leaves that had been swept in through the open door on the breeze, “is a new harp for the empress.”

Kurogane frowned at the thing, taking in the embellished surface. It had to be almost as tall as him, and he couldn’t see any strings. “It doesn’t _look _like a harp.”

“That’s just the case.”

Kurogane glanced down at the woman beside him, taking in his fellow ninja’s slight frown. “…More crap from Chugoku?” He hazarded, waiting for Souma to tilt her attention to him.

“Yes.”

“Heh,” Kurogane couldn’t help the small surge of smug satisfaction that came up within him at the confirmation, folding his arms across his chest and turning back to look at the servants struggle with the cased harp.

The instrument was just another present in a long line of gifts that had been trickling in from their neighbouring nation over the past few weeks; the ambassadors passed them off as goodwill gestures, Chugoku preparing for the treaty between herself and Nihon, but the Nihon Court knew better. The gifts had only started arriving _after _the mercenaries that had attacked two months ago had been successfully driven off, the Chugokian emperor finally getting it through his skull that the little country next door wasn’t going to be pushed around and deciding to do some buttering up for a change – not that they could pin the mercenaries on Chugoku, of course. Everyone _knew _it was Chugokian gold that had bought the men, but the surviving runts had managed to flee with their tails tucked between their legs before the Nihon army had managed to collar them. Only the dead had been left behind, and corpses were rather hard to interrogate.

“At least it’s not livestock this time…” Souma’s frown wasn’t budging – then again, she wasn’t really a woman of endless smiles. The servants finally managed to get the harp in and at a decent angle, halfway through the hall and heading for Kendappa-ou’s private quarters.

“Ah,” Kurogane consented, inwardly waiting for one of the men to drop the case. The _last _set of gifts to have come from the emperor had included a strange collection of cattle, little horses (Tomoyo had squealed at those, and called them ‘ponies’) and – rather distressingly – human slaves. Unable to reject any part of the gift and risk offending the emperor’s kindness Amaterasu had accepted the slaves, lips thin, eyes sharp, and set them to work, as lenient with them as she could possibly be.

“You’ll be leaving soon as part of the return delegation?” What _was _Amaterasu doing, to have left Souma free to wander and become so talkative that day?

“In a fortnight,” with _Fai, _no less, as one of the major ambassadors as well. Now that the weather was cooler the blond was much more like his usual active self, having recovered from his summer sickness and returned to both his duties and his mischief around Shirasagi.

Kurogane couldn’t find it in himself to complain about the other’s assignment; quite aside from his own relationship with Fai (and the fact that having the other with him meant a) no sulking on Fai’s part about him being ‘abandoned whilst Kuro-chan ran away’, and b) no interruptions in a quite healthy sex life), the idiot really was actually _good _at his job, even though he’d only been in that world for roughly a year and a half. Fai had poured over Nihon history, Nihon culture, delighting in conversations with Tomoyo about local life and legends and…a literal tonne of other stuff Kurogane had preferred to tune out, leaving the two _women _to chatter over their afternoon tea as he stomped off to the training yard to get some practice in.

Fai was a courtier through and through – he’d been raised to be one, and had apparently lost none of his talents over the years. Added to that, they’d yet to meet someone he couldn’t at least partially charm (much to Kurogane’s annoyance as he’d been forced to beat off admirers who couldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer on more than one occasion. Whilst Fai sat in the background and did absolutely nothing to discourage them whatsoever, coming out with an odd ‘_hyuu’ _now and then to commend some display of manliness or other (or just to express appreciation when some of Kurogane’s moves led the mage to getting a wonderful view of his lover’s ass)).

It was evening outside, when Kurogane stepped into it, the sun slowly slipping down the sky, painting the clouds in shades of cream and gold, catching the falling leaves as they fluttered in the wind and making them glow. The light glinted off the tiles of the imperial palace, stone statues gleaming as the ninja went past them, his shadow stretching out behind him on the ground as he made his way to a side-courtyard, a place not frequented by many.

This end of Shirasagi was relatively quiet, the peace of the evening interrupted only by the occasional servant whispering by. Drawing closer to his destination the sound of a girl’s laughter greeted Kurogane, deeper, softer tones following the pleasant sound with words slightly too-quiet to hear, lost to the cries of a lone bird flying overhead, the tinkle of a fountain.

Closer still, and the courtyard came into view, a small, secluded sun-trap enclosed on all sides. Two figures were sitting on the edge of the pool at the courtyard’s heart, the youngest of which with her bare ankles in the water, her hand outstretched to a flickering water dragon she’d called up. The tiny, shimmering creation danced through the fountain in the pool, bewitching the koi fish and flicking silver-bright droplets into the air, splashing its mistress and making her laugh, letting the wind catch her long blue hair.

Her mentor, at her side, occasionally passed a comment or two, but he too was quiet for the most, watching the water dragon with a gentle smile of his own. It was a precious expression, a peaceful moment, and Kurogane was content to watch for a little while, unnoticed, leaning on a post at the courtyard’s edge and observing the scene.

Eventually, the eldest of the two at the pool seemed to notice the time, the man looking away from his student and her work to the sky overhead, noting the heavy shade of gold tinged with pink, late evening over Nihon. “_Saa…” _he tucked a strand of blond hair that had escaped it combs behind his ear, smiling when the girl beside him looked up at him, “Umi-chan, when did it get so late? It’s almost time for dinner!”

“Already?” Umi herself looked a little bewildered, strangely confused as to where the afternoon had vanished to when she hadn’t been looking. She flicked her wrist and the water dragon she’d summoned dove down into the pool below it, disappearing in a few ripples on the crystal surface.

“Indeed,” Fai told her, rising to his feet and offering her his hand. Umi took it gratefully and stood, blushing at the contact, darkening even further when her teacher petted her on the head. “You did well today, Umi-chan. Your control has greatly improved.”

“Thank you, Fai-sensei.” Quite a few of Shirasagi’s younger soldiers and ninjas would’ve _killed _to have been able to make Ryuuzaki Umi blush as much as she was currently doing. The girl was a pretty one, and turned heads wherever she went, the nobly-born daughter who wished to be a warrior – _despite _having enough magical prowess to have guaranteed her a place in the priesthood. “I’d best – _Kurogane-sensei!”_

He’d been spotted.  

Kurogane nodded his head cordially enough to the girl, meeting warm, mismatched eyes over Umi’s head. He waited until Fai had drawn the sigil that dropped the barrier he placed around the courtyard every time he took a lesson there before approaching, hearing distantly Umi stutter her goodbyes and dash off even as Fai was languidly winding his arms around Kurogane’s neck, the same laziness reflected in his smile.

“Kuro-puu~.”

Kurogane accepted the gesture, the closeness, knowing there was no-one else around to see Fai draped over him, boneless as a cat. “She still has a crush on you, you know.”

“Mm…” Fai nuzzled into the crook of his lover’s neck, his hair ticklish on the skin of Kurogane’s exposed throat. “Is my Kuro-chan jealous?”

‘Kuro-chan’ was rather liking the possessive ‘my’ the blond had just come out with more than he should’ve done in a public place (even if it was out of the way), even more so the purr that had been in Fai’s voice when he’d said it. “She understands you’re taken.” Kurogane didn’t mind people looking (within reason), as long as they understood not to touch.

Fai snorted, a soft puff of breath at his ninja’s collarbone. “Kuro-sama needs to learn how to play nicely with the other children.”

Kurogane protested his innocence. “I haven’t killed anyone this month.” There hadn’t even been any serious maiming.

Fai looked up at him, shrewd. “There haven’t been any assassination attempts on Tomoyo-hime this month.”

Kurogane refused to verify that there was any sort of correlation between his kill-count and assassination attempts on the Tsukoyomi. (Despite there being, of course, a very obvious correlation.) So, he changed the subject. “Your hair’s gotten pretty long again.” He pulled one of the combs his lover was using out with his only hand (he hadn’t attached the metal one that afternoon), watching the up-style Fai had attempted that morning come tumbling down, golden waves that swept past the blond’s shoulders.

Fai only looked amused at the bad diversionary attempt – Kurogane was entirely too honest for his own good, sometimes; he made a hopeless liar. The mage took back the comb the ninja had stolen, tucking it into the edge of his sash, to be retrieved later, untangling himself from Kurogane to do so. “I’ll cut it before we leave Nihon,” he promised, still standing close. “It’s easier to manage when it’s shorter, anyway, and the less I have to distract me whilst we’re away the better – the situation’s precarious enough as it is.”

“Hn,” Kurogane agreed, thinking of the Chugokian delegation that had come to Nihon in the summer, their wide smiles and eyes that constantly slipped past you. Of dead mercenaries, and words of friendship that didn’t quite ring true. They didn’t need – or want – a war.

“It’ll be interesting to see more of this world though, ne, Kuro-pon?” Fai’s expression was vaguely dreamy, clearly recalling some of the worlds they’d visited with the children, Sakura and Syaoran, and the manjuu Mokona. “Do you think we’ll meet people we recognise from other worlds in Chugoku?”

Depending on the person, Kurogane wasn’t so certain that meeting people they might recognise would be such a _good _thing. “Maybe.” Same souls, different people or not, some souls were _universally _annoying. And/or dangerous. (Kurogane preferred them when they included the latter description – then, he had the excuse to use his sword on them, thus removing said annoyance. And danger.)

Fai sighed, and melted against Kurogane again, letting the ninja wrap his arm around him. “It’s a pity we couldn’t take our horses to the continent with us – we could go travelling then, see a few more countries before coming home…”

The thought was a mildly intriguing one. “Maybe someday.”

“Talking of horses,” Fai glanced up then, a sudden brightness in his expression that had Kurogane immediately wary, “Kuro-chan, would you get me a pony?”

Kurogane blinked at him, trying to catch up with the sudden conversation-switch. “What the hell do you want a pony for?” Curse whoever it was that had _showed _the mage the ponies that had been sent to Nihon – it was probably Tomoyo’s fault. A lot of things that caused Kurogane hell of some kind or other were Tomoyo’s fault. And Fai’s. “You’ve already got a horse – _two, _in fact.” He should know, he’d _bought _them, a mare and her foal.

“I’ve never had a pony before though, Kuro-chan~.” Fai used the pout he knew was particularly effective on Kurogane, all wide-eyed innocence and charm that usually had people tripping over themselves to aid him in any way possible. “I’ve had birds and horses and rabbits and cats…” the blond drew his arms around Kurogane’s neck again and adding rather impishly, “even one notable growly puppy. _But,” _he included, just as his ‘puppy’ twisted his lips into a grimace at the nickname, “never a pony.”

Kurogane was unsympathetic to his plight. “It’s the same as a goddamn horse.”

“Is not.” How anyone looked up to this man and called him ‘sensei’ Kurogane would never know.

“Is too,” Kurogane insisted, hurrying on with his words before Fai could reply and draw them both into a pointlessly childish bout of ‘is not-is too’ing that would stretch far, far into the night. “They’re just a bit smaller.”

Fai unclasped one hand from around the ninja’s neck to poke him in the side. “Kuro-pon, you could say the same about chickens and geese.”

“You can cross-breed horses and ponies – they’re the same _species_.”

“I’m sure I could cross-breed chickens and geese,” Fai defended, “if I put my mind to it.”

“You,” Kurogane said clearly, picking out a bronze leaf from where it had fallen into Fai’s loose hair, “are never being allowed anywhere near the poultry-house.”

“If Kuro-sama got me a pony,” Fai teased, hooking his hands together once more and leaning back a little, Kurogane forced to drop a hand to the small of his lover’s back to ease the pull on his neck, “I’m sure I’d be too occupied to go near the poultry-house.”

Kurogane shook his head. “I’m not getting you a pony.”

Fai pouted. “Tomoyo-chan would get me one.” Of course ‘Tomoyo-chan’ would. The princess doted on Fai, and the two conspired to bring destruction to Kurogane’s sanity.

“_Tomoyo-hime_ wouldn’t be the one that would have to look after the damn thing.” She’d just feed it and squeal over it and give a ridiculous pet name that would have half the palace wincing every time they heard it.

Fai pouted some more. “_Kuro-samaaa~.”_

“It’s time for dinner,” Kurogane said, changing the topic yet again. He pushed at Fai’s back, the blond pulling out of his lean and resting his weight on his own feet again. “If we don’t go now we’ll probably miss it, and I refuse to have you complaining all night because you’re hungry.”

Fai laughed, cheerfully threading his fingers with the ninja’s as they moved along, heading out of the courtyard. “I could always go to the kitchens and make us some cake~.”

“I meant _actual _food, idiot.”

Fai only smiled, and nuzzled closer to the other. “Silly Kuro-chan, cake _is _actual food~!”

“Not the way _you _make it,” Kurogane grumbled, but didn’t shy away from the hand-holding or the affection. It was a wonder the kitchens didn’t run out of sugar on a daily basis considering the amount Fai used when he was cooking.

“And yet Kuro-pii eats it _allll _up~!” The blond’s tone was sly.

“Because you always shove that crap into my mouth when I’m not looking!”

“Nyaaah, Kuro-pon’s living in de~_ni_~al~!”

“I’ll show you ‘_denial’ _you-!”

_  
“Ahhh,   
_  
Kuro-rin is angry~~!!”

Had anyone been in that stretch of the palace at the time they would’ve seen a familiar sight – two figures racing along the corridors, the lanky, golden one laughing and in the lead, pursued by his darker, growling companion. Both of them would’ve been lit by the beginnings of sunset, silhouettes against the fading evening in their fluttering clothes, the warmth of the sky reflecting the warmth in their expressions, despite the teasing and curses.

Their shadows were long and the sky was on fire when the fleeing one finally consented to being caught, pressed up against a nearby post by a larger body, a familiar self-satisfied smile so simple to kiss. They were both shadows then, still in the quiet part of Shirasagi, and the evening went ahead and ended without them, dinner forgotten.

(Fai did actually complain he was hungry later – he dragged Kurogane to the kitchens and forced the ninja to help him make cake. Despite his grumbling, Kurogane ate it.

(He later denied that the action had been prompted by Fai sitting in his lap whilst he'd done so.))


End file.
